Pipe-wrench.



10,668,645 A. l",V JACKSON'.

PIPE WRENCH.

(Applikation led 'Ily 8l., 1900;)

(No Model.)

Sawewtoa:

nuten.

AMBROSE F. JACKSON, OF ROOK ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

PIPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 668,645, dated February2e, leoi.

Application filed May 3l, 1900. .Serial No. 18,598. (No model.)

To all whom t nfl/ty concern.-

Be it known that 1, AMBRosn F. JACKSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rock Island, in the county of Rock Island and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Pipe-Wrench,of which thefollowing is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements yin pipe-wrenches, and isdirected more particularly to the improvement of that particular form ofwrench described and illustrated in Letters Patent granted to me June 5,1900, No. 650,974.

One object of the present improvement is to provide more positive meansfor urging the pivoted jaw toward the stationary jaw and a jaw-operatinghandle or lever mounted upon` the handle or stock of the wrench in amanner to permit the operator, without releasing his grip upon thestock, to open the jaws by the depression of the leveror to permit themto close under the impulse of the jaw-closing device to be described.

In a somewhat more specific aspect, a further object .of the inventionis to provide a novel construction by means of which the connection ofthe operating mechanism with the links will bev located behind thelinks, while the jaw-operating lever or handle will be located at thefront edge of the wrenchstock, where it maybe manipulated by the fingersof the operator without necessity for the position of the hand' beingchanged in order to open the jaws at the end of such movement as mayhave been imparted to the wrench during its application .to the objectoperated upon.

Still further and subordinate objects Will hereinafter more fully appearas the necessity for their accomplishment is developed in the succeedingdescription, which will be fully understood when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, employed to illustrate the preferredembodiment of the present improvement.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a wrench embodyingmy present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showingthe jaws in engagement with a pipe of diminutive size, a portion of thewrench stock or handle being broken away. Fig. 3 is a similar view withone of the links 'removed and showing the jaws in engagement with asomewhat larger pipe, a portionof the spring-casing being broken awayfor the purpose of illustrating interior parts.

' Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designatecorresponding parts in the several views, 1 indicates the stock orhandle of the wrench, provided at one end with a lateral extension 2,having a somewhat oblique end face 3, within a recess in which isdesigned to be received the shank 4 of a stationary convex jaw 5 of thewrench, said shank being rigidly retained within the recess by a pin 6,extending transversely through the extension 2 and shank 4. The form ofthe stationary jaw 5 may be varied within wide limits; but its engagingface is preferably of segmental form, as illustrated, and is providedwith gripping-teeth 7. 8 indicates the pivoted jaw, designed, as usual,to coperate with the stationary jaw 5. The jaw 8 is of angular formthatis to say, it is composed of two right-angularly-disposed arms 9 and 10,the latter of which is provided with a toothed face 11, integral withthe jaw or formed in a removable wear-face l2. The adjacent or innerface of the arm 9 is left plain, as shown at 13, and constitutes a restor abutment designed to prevent the crushing or distortion of the pipe14 or other object engaged betweenV the toothed faces 7 and 11 of thestationary and pivoted jaws.

The pivoted jaw 8 is movably connected to the stock or handle 1 by meansof a pair of parallel links 15, connected at their inner ends by a pivot16, which passes through the links and through the handle 1 immediatelyunder the extension 2 and slightly nearer the rear edge of the wrench.The upper ends of the links are connected to each other and to the arm 9of the pivoted jaw by a pivot 17, piercing the ends of the links andpassing through the arm 9, at a slight distance from the end thereofopposite the arm 10. The stationary and movable or pivoted jaws are bymeans of the links rendered capable of independent movement; but inorder that the movement of the pivoted jaw may be controlled through theactuation of the links, and, further, in order to insure the movement ofthe pivoted jaw in a predetermined path, the jaws are geared together bythe inter- IOO meshing teeth 1S and 19, formed in the contiguous facesor extensions of the stock 1 and the rear end of the pivoted jaw S. Byreason of this connection when the handle 1 is vibrated to force thestationary jaw against the pipe the teeth of the movable jaw are urgedin the opposite direction and are caused to bite against the pipe at theopposite side, while the plain abutting face 13 of the arm 9 forms arest or abutment designed to sustain the pipe, but to permit the latterto move freely thereon.

It is evident that in place of the links 15.

it might be possible to employ a single link or that some other form ofcoupling member bearing an equivalent relation to the other parts of thewrench might be employed. I shall therefore designate the linkconnection as a coupling element in certain of the claims, and by thisterm I wish to be understood as defining a connection generallyequivalent to the links and distinguished from a mere pivotal mounting.

.Thus far my wrench is constructed substantially in accordance with myinvention as described and illustrated in the application aforesaid; butI shall now proceed to describe that particular improvement in whichresides the novelty of my present invention and which is designed tofacilitate the manipulation of the movable or pivoted jaw for thepurpose of permitting the attachment of the Wrench to the object to beoperated and its detachment therefrom. From the rear edge of each link15, in a plane intermediate of the pivots 16 and 17, but considerablynearer the former, is a bearing-ear 20, said ears being opposed andpierced by the opposite ends of a trunnion-head 21, formed at one end ofa plunger 22, extending obliquely from the ears 2O through a cylindricalspring-casing 23, cast in the stock 1, to a point beyond the front edgeof the stock or handle 1, where said plunger is passed through andheaded beyond the short arm 24 of the pivoted jaw-lever 25, pivoted uponthe shank 1 adjacent to its front edge. The long arm of this leverextends in acute-angular relation to the edge of the stock andconstitutes a handle 26, the depression of which in the direction of thestock by the fingers of the operator will cause the plunger 22 to bedrawn longitudinally against the resistance of a spiral spring 27,encircling the plunger 22 within the springcasing 23 and bearing at itsopposite ends against the front end 2S of the casing and a circularenlargement or bearing fiange 29 upon the plunger 22. The depression ofthe handle 26 will therefore cause the links to be swung back on thepivot 16 and will cause the pivoted jaw to be swung away from the fixedjaw to open the jaws of the wrench-as, for instance, to facilitate theattachment of the wrench to or its detachment from a pipe or otherobject to be operated upon. The release of the jaw-operating handle 26will obviously permit the spring 27 to urge the plunger 22 in theopposite direction to swing the links forwardly for the purpose ofyieldingly urging the jaws together in a manner which will be obvious.

Special utility resides in the peculiar oblique arrangement of theplunger with respect to the stock of the wrench, and in order that thismay be fully apparent attention is called to the fact that when theWrench is operated to turn a pipe gripped between the jaws the power isapplied to the stock or wrench-handle 1 from the rear side, and as thispower is exerted manually the palm of the hand is ordinarily broughtinto contact with the rear edge of the handle, which, as a matter ofcourse, brings the iugers of the operator around the front edge of thehandle. It is for this reason that the pivoted-jaw-operating lever hasbeen arranged at the front side of the handle or shank to permit of itsactuation without making it necessary for the operator to release hisgrip upon the wrenchhandle. This relation of the parts is particularlyuseful when the wrench is vibrated successively, as it permits theoperator to quickly release the grip upon the pipe for the purpose ofreturning the Wrench to its initial position after each forwardvibration. This oblique disposition of the plunger 22 furthermoreeffects the exertion of its pressure in a direction substantially atright angles to a line piercing the pivots 16 and 21, which constitutesthe links, in effect, a bell-crank lever and insures the effectiveoperation of the pivoted jaw under the impulse of the spring 27.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced a substantialimprovement over the construction shown in my concurrent application andthat I have devised a simple and effective form of mechanism forinsuring the approach of the wrench -jaws and for permitting theirseparation without necessity for the release of the grip from thewrench-handle; but While the construction shown and described isbelieved at this time to be preferable I do not wish to limit myselfthereto, but reserve the right to effect such changes, modifications,and variations as may be comprehended within the scope of the protectionprayed.

What I claim is- 1. A wrench comprising a handle having stationary andmovablejaws, a coupling member connecting the handle with the movablejaw, a jaw-actuating handle, and means connecting said handle with thecoupling member, the jaw-actuating handle and coupling member beinglocated at opposite sides of the wrench-handle.

2. A Wrench comprising a handle, a stationary jaw thereon, a movablejaw, links connecting the handle with the movable jaw and located at therear side of the wrench, means for yieldingly urging said links in adirection to close the jaws, a jaw-actuating handle located at the frontside of the wrench, and means connecting said handle with the links.

IOO

IIO

IIS

3. A Wrench comprising a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, a movable jaw,links pivotally connecting the rear end of the movable jaw to thehandle, a jaw-actuating handle located at the front side of the Wrench,and a springpressed plunger extending obliquely across the Wrench-handleand connected at its opposite ends to the jaw-actuating handle and tothe links, respectively.

4. A Wrench comprising a handle, a stationary jaw thereon, a movablejaw, links pivotally connecting the rear end of the movable jaw to thewrench-handle adjacent to the rear edge thereof, a cylindricalspring-casing extending obliqu ely through the Wrench-handle, ajaw-operating lever pivotally mounted at the front side of theWrench-handle, a plunger extending through the spring-Casin g andconnected at its opposite ends to the links and j avv-operating lever,respectively, an enlargenient on the plunger, and aspring Within thespring-casing and hearing at its opposite ends against one end of thespringcasing and against the enlargement, respectively.

5. A Wrench comprising a handle, a stationary jaw thereon, an angularmovable jaw geared to the handle, a pair of links pivoted at theiropposite ends to the Wrench-handle adjacent to its rear edge and to therear end of the movable jaw, a pair of rearwardly-extending ears uponthe links, a spring-casing extending obliquely through theWrench-handle, a plunger extending through said casing and provided witha fulcrum-head at one end engaging the ears of the links and With abearing-head, a spring encircling the plunger Within the spring-casingand bearing. at its opposite ends against a fixed part and thebearing-head of the plunger,respectively, and a hell-crank lever pivotedat the front side of the Wrench handle and connected to the plunger.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afxed mysignature in the presence of two Witnesses.

AMBROSE F. JACKSQN.

